Swedish Jenny concert on tap for June 30

Published 6:04 pm, Thursday, June 25, 2015

Swedish soprano Sara Swietlicvki will perform in concert on Tuesday, June 30, in Bridgeport.

Swedish soprano Sara Swietlicvki will perform in concert on Tuesday, June 30, in Bridgeport.

Photo: Contributed Photo

Image 2 of 2

Swedish pianist Markus Kvint will perform in concert on Tuesday, June 30, in Bridgeport.

Swedish pianist Markus Kvint will perform in concert on Tuesday, June 30, in Bridgeport.

Photo: Contributed Photo

Swedish Jenny concert on tap for June 30

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Although once an integral part of the Barnum Festival, the American Jenny Lind competition for sopranos and subsequent concert with her Swedish counterpart is no more.

But Lind’s memory is as strong as ever at the Barnum Museum, which has arranged to have the Swedish Jenny Lind conclude an annual tour of North America with a concert in Bridgeport.

“Everything changes,” said Kathy Maher, director/curator of the Bridgeport museum, referring to the festival’s decision to drop the event last year. “And that’s fine.

“But the Lind tour of America in 1850-51 was a defining moment in the entertainment history of America,” Maher said. “It’s a critical part of the Barnum story, one that deserves to be preserved by the museum.”

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the concert will take place at the Bijou Theatre in Bridgeport. On the evening's program will be classic arias, Swedish folk songs and standards from the American Songbook.

Other tour stops have included those in Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. — cities where Lind history is revered, Maher said.

The Bridgeport concert pays tribute to the Lind-Barnum concert tour collaboration, which made each very wealthy.

Barnum, considered an icon of modern advertising techniques, promoted Lind and her 93-concert tour of the United States, which grossed a then-phenomenal $712,000.

"Few people had heard of Lind, but Barnum (stressed her) angelic image and her massive public philanthropy. He created a modern marketing campaign throughout America; he created a frenzy,” she explained.

That in turn drew men, women and children into theaters around the country, which was an unheard of practice prior to Lind’s arrival. Until then, “theater-going was considered inappropriate” for mixed audiences because of its raucous and crude nature, Maher said.

“He transformed America by introducing opera and refined entertainment to vast segments of the public,” she added.